Colorblindness, WAS: ARGH! Question about screen captures

[David Loveless]

Good point, and while I would hate to give a blanche carte to developers to
break "the rules" I mentioned previously, you could very well say that
following tip #5 is indeed kind of a catch all. It won't work all the time,
but certainly it will do wonders for most colorblind people. The only caveat
I would offer was an example I saw. It was a Zone map for gardeners, and
each climate zone was identified by a distinct color, distinct border to the
color, and a distinct pattern in the color. There are 10 zones. It was so
loud and obnoxious that it was basically useless.

Perhaps "moderation in all things" is a good line to add to tip #5.
Providing other ways of distinguishing the text is useful, but only if the
distinguishing characteristics continue to have merit when compared as a
whole.

Dave


On 12/3/07, Mike Stockman <mstockman at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Great explanation, David, but I have one question: isn't your rule #5
> (quoted below) sufficient all by itself? That is, as long as people
> provide an alternate means of making the point (such as a unique
> pattern in addition to the color, or, as you mention, blue *and*
> underline for links), they can break your other rules (mix red, green,
> and gray badly, for example) with impunity?
>
> I may well be missing something... it just occurred to me that #5 gave
> us a single, easy-to-remember rule that's easier to impart to
> developers (for example).
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
> On Dec 3, 2007 12:33 PM, David Loveless < daveloveless at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 5. Always provide another method of distinguishing something other than
> > color. There's a reason links in web pages use color, bold, and
> underline.
>
> --
> Mike Stockman
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